


Love You More

by Mythicalseries



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Idiots in Love, M/M, rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-10 21:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythicalseries/pseuds/Mythicalseries
Summary: Rhett insists that he loves Link more, and of course Link doesn't take it very well. Apparently hiding too much love can be read as loving too little.





	Love You More

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful friend [Jenna](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl) for putting up with me while I was writing this. What would I do without you?

"I love you", the girl in the line said. She couldn't have been older than nineteen.

Rhett and Link’s families had spent all Saturday afternoon together at the McLaughlins’ house, and when dinner plans came up, the kids had insisted on doing something fun.

It had been too long since they'd all gone off on an impromptu adventure with the kids, and this time, the adults had practically found themselves being dragged to Santa Monica Pier for the night. Although, to be fair, they hadn't put up too much of a fight.

They had discussed whether or not to eat as soon as they got there, but ‘dinner first’ had won the debate. They ordered some burgers and fries to go, and they ended up sitting down at a Coffee Bean table. It was the only one they could find that was big enough for all of them. Once the kids were done eating, they’d run off, promising they’d all stay together in one place, while the two couples stayed there talking.

As the minutes went by, the line for The Coffee Bean had gotten so long that it went all the way outside, which is how they ended up overhearing the lovey-dovey conversation from the young couple just a few feet away from them.

The girl’s boyfriend pressed his forehead against hers, smiling. "I love you more."

"No, I love you more."

"No, I do."

“No, I do”, she giggled.

"Oh gosh..." Rhett said, rolling his eyes. He turned his attention back toward the table and looked at his wife, who was sitting across from him. "Were we ever like that?"

"Probably."

All four of them laughed, even though Rhett still wasn't convinced he could have ever acted like that. Once the couple made their way inside, Link chimed in.

"Young love, brother. They'll come around eventually, we all did.”

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they'll see that if your relationship works, then you can't love your partner more than they love you. And vice versa. Otherwise, it'd all fall apart, man."

They all nodded thoughtfully considering the idea, until Christy frowned, deciding she disagreed.

"I'm not sure that's true."

Link frowned comically before looking at her. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I'm not saying I think you love me more or anything, 'cause I don't. I think we love each other equally, but… just because we do, it doesn't mean that happens in every relationship."

"You're not worried about this, are you?" Rhett said, leaning towards Jessie.

"No, honey. Are you?"

"Nah, I'm good." He winked at her, pulling out a smile from her in return.

"It doesn't have to be just couples,” Christy continued. “Like, take any two people, with any kind of relationship, and it’s likely one of them will love the other one more. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just life."

"Christy's right, man. I mean, it's kind of a tricky thing though, isn't it? 'Cause the person who loves the other one more has to accept that. But as long as they're okay with it, things shouldn't have to fall apart, right? I mean, look at us for example." Link blinked in confusion when he saw Rhett motioning between them. "We work."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rhett scoffed. "C'mon, Link."

"C'mon _what_ , Rhett?!"

Rhett could already tell he had pushed too far. He knew he'd have to go around this as cautiously as possible, given the growing rage he could see in Link's eyes. "Are you really gonna make me say it?" he asked, almost pleadingly.

"I freaking _dare_ you."

Rhett sighed defeatedly. He knew Link wasn't going to drop this – his friend was too riled up already – so he had no choice but to give in to the argument. After all, he started it.

"You know very well that I love you more than you love me, brother. Everyone knows that”, Rhett said turning to their wives for support. “Right?"

"Oh no, we're staying out of this one,” Jessie said, already standing up from the table. “C'mon, Chris."

Link’s wife followed. They were making the smart move, getting away before they could get dragged into it; they were definitely smarter than Rhett had been. "See you guys later."

Now that they were alone, the shorter man didn't lose the frown on his face while he munched on the last remaining bits of his burger.

“Link?”

"Just when I thought you couldn't be more of an idiot..."

Rhett sighed. Of course this wasn't over. How silly of him to even get his hopes up.

Link stood up from the table, picking up his and Christy's trash while Rhett followed his every movement with his eyes. Instead of sitting back down, once Link had thrown everything in the nearby trash can, he started to walk away, leaving Rhett to scramble everything up and do the same.

“Link, wait!” he called out as he jogged up behind his friend.

“I don't wanna talk to you right now, Rhett.” His voice was almost monotone, as if his mind was somewhere far away.

He sped up his pace to leave Rhett a few steps behind as he made his way through the crowd. He knew the kids would be playing at the arcade, so while Rhett watched from the outside, Link stopped to look around until he spotted Christy playing with Lando at some silly game. He approached his wife slowly, startling her nonetheless, when he leaned down to speak next to her ear.

“I’ll go sit in the car.”

“Wanna get going?”

He shook his head with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “Nah, I just… need some peace and quiet. You guys take your time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah”, he nodded. “Just call me when you're ready to leave.”

Before Christy could say another word, Link slipped away, heading back outside. He walked right past Rhett, even though he could still feel his friend’s eyes on him.

As they got to the parking lot, it wasn't too hard for Link to notice Rhett was still on his heels. He had a strong feeling that Rhett wasn't just going to let him walk away in peace, and his suspicions were confirmed when, once away from the crowd, he started hearing the sound of his friend’s steps behind him.

“Stop following me, Rhett”, he said without looking back.

“Stop walking away from me then.” But Link didn't, and Rhett was starting to get fed up. “C’mon, man! You know I didn't mean it as an insult! I was just stating the facts. You don't have to pretend just to make me feel better. I'm a big boy, Link, I can take it."

Link scoffed. “I'm sure you can”, he muttered under his breath.

It suddenly clicked in his mind that he couldn't head back to the car. If he got in, Rhett would immediately follow him, and God only knows what Link would do if he found himself in that situation. Link could think of two possible scenarios, one involving a bloody nose, and the other two swollen pairs of lips – and possibly Link’s own bloody nose as well. But whatever the case, both scenarios would have consequences, and Link couldn't handle the idea.

He took a turn to head toward the beach instead, hopeful that maybe he'd be able to lose Rhett in the crowd outside the pier. He needed to clear his head, and it didn't seem possible to do that with Rhett behind him. He was burning with anger both at Rhett and himself; he was confused and upset, and a million other feelings ran through him at the same time. Most of all he was overwhelmed.

"Link!" Rhett's voice came, piercing through the fog in his mind. The tall man had jogged up to him before Link could realize it, the weight of Rhett's hand on his shoulder finally pulling him out of his daze.

"Link, c'mon! Are we really gonna fight about this?!"

"Hell yes, we're gonna fight about this, Rhett!" Link yelled, shaking off Rhett's hand.

Rhett expected a reaction, more aware of Link’s short fuse than anyone. But he wasn't expecting this.

He just stood there, dumbfounded, letting Link push him hard in the middle of his chest. He didn't fight back, so Link kept doing it, letting out all of his pent up rage as he accentuated each word with another push. "You. Insufferable. Piece of..."

Link couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. He took a few steps back as he steadied his breathing.

“Are you done?”

Link glared at Rhett, but he said nothing. They stared at each other for a minute in silence, until Link turned around to continue his way down toward the beach. Rhett rolled his eyes, because, no, apparently Link wasn't done.

 

"Link, I'm willing to follow you around all night if I have to", Rhett said after following Link for a few minutes down the shore. Yet, once again, Link didn't reply. He kept walking a few more yards until Rhett pressed on. "C'mon, man, talk to me. Please?"

Link sighed. "Facts."

"What?"

"You said you were stating the facts. I'd like to hear them." Link said. "I wanna know what makes you think I don't care about you."

"Now, see? You're putting words in my mouth. I never said that."

"Oh so, what? I misheard you then, is that it?!"

"Yes! Yes, you did!" Rhett laughed incredulously. "I know you care, Link. You think I would have stayed with you all these years if I didn't know that?"

Link scrunched up his shoulders exaggeratedly. "You tell me."

Rhett could not believe the seriousness in Link's face. His friend meant it; he was doubting the entire foundation of their friendship over some stupid argument, and it was driving Rhett insane.

In his mind, there was no doubt he loved Link more; it was just the way things had always been and he had come to terms with it a very long time ago. Besides, if anyone had the right to be upset about it, it was clearly Rhett. But he was okay with it. So if Rhett didn't mind, why should Link?

Rhett shook his head, letting out an angry laugh.

"I don't understand why you're the one who's angry about this. I'm the one who gets the short end of the stick here!"

Link scoffed. "Funny how I always thought that was me."

"What?"

He’d said too much.

He turned around, avoiding both the question and Rhett's eyes. He wasn't planning on walking away though; he needed answers. So he took a few steps and simply plopped down on the sand.

They shared the quietness for a minute, as they both stared out into the Pacific. The ocean was calm that night, barely any waves hitting the shore. The moon was nowhere to be seen and, since the bright lights from the pier made the stars opaque, there wasn't much for them to see out in the horizon. The only things that disturbed the silence were the muffled noises of laughs and voices coming from up the pier, and the sound of the wind hitting Rhett's jacket. It was peaceful, and nothing could ever compare with the feeling of the ocean breeze on their faces.

"I just can't believe you think I..." Link said, much calmer now. He was struggling to find the words in his scrambled mind, but he eventually turned his eyes back to Rhett's before trying again. "Why?"

"Why do I think that?" Rhett asked, waiting for Link to nod. "Because, Link. C'mon."

"If you say that again, I swear I will punch you in the face."

"Because it's just the way it is, man. Try reading the comments on our videos some time, you'll see I'm not delusional. Everybody sees it. Or at least everyone but you."

"I don't care about what other people think, Rhett. I care about what _you_ think."

Rhett sighed, surrendering to the situation. Even though he had a well formed opinion on the subject, he also knew there was no way of putting it that wouldn't set Link off. So instead, he decide to place the ball in Link's court.

"Let's just put it this way: can you _honestly_ look at me in the eye and tell me that you think you love me more?"

Rhett's words made Link freeze. He suddenly realized he hadn’t thought this through. No matter how furious he was, Link could handle the idea of Rhett thinking he didn’t love him as much; in his mind, it was certainly better than the alternative: Rhett realizing Link may love him a little too much.

As much as he tried to play it cool, he knew there was no way he pulled it off, and it angered him even more to think that Rhett was going to take his dismissal as confirmation.

"Whatever, man."

Rhett chuckled smugly. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Screw you, Rhett."

"Whatever, dude. You can be Mr. Grumpy all you want, but we really should be heading back."

Link shook his head, folding his legs up toward his chest. "Nah, you go."

"And what?” Rhett scoffed. “You're just gonna sit here? Alone?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Rhett considered it for a second, his eyes picking up on the goosebumps on Link's exposed arms. "Well, it is getting cold." He shrugged. "I'm just saying... maybe you wanna take your bad mood somewhere warmer."

Link's answer came dry and sure. "I'll be fine."

Rhett saw no point in fighting him over this. If Link wanted to freeze to death, that was his choice. He scrunched up his shoulders, as he began to turn away. "Okay."

Even if his mind was determined to leave Link behind, he had only walked a few steps back toward the pier when his body stopped in its tracks on its own accord. He closed his eyes, cursing both Link for being such an idiot and himself for caring about said idiot so much.

He proceeded to take off his jacket, turning around to walk back toward Link. Rhett didn't say a word – he was too angry for that – so he just approached his friend and set his jacket next to Link on the sand.

For his part, Link made no attempt to move until Rhett was well on his way back toward the parking lot. He eyed the moss green jacket beside him, and it made him burst with rage. Who did Rhett think he was? Link could take care of himself; he had said he'd be fine. Besides, he had the _nerve_ of giving Link his jacket as if he could somehow stand the cold more than Link. What a condescending prick, he thought.

Not unlike a child throwing a tantrum, he grabbed the jacket and tossed it away as far as he could. Yet, it was no surprise to find he regretted it as soon as he did it. He looked away from where it had landed, trying to push down the feeling of regret unsuccessfully. It was just a jacket. Why did he care so much about a freaking jacket? He sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation with himself as he reluctantly stood up to retrieve it.

He brushed the sand off of it before gazing back to make sure Rhett was already out of sight. He stared at the jacket in his hand for a second, hesitating, but he eventually decided to put it on. As much as it hurt his pride to admit it, Rhett was right. It was getting cold.

He still had time to kill, though, so he sat back down, hugging Rhett's jacket over himself instead of zipping it up. It had the distinct smell of Rhett, familiar and comforting as ever despite their argument, as well as a hint of his cologne, the only one his friend wore, because it wouldn't give Link a headache.

It made Link angry that he couldn't help the rush of love he felt for his best friend. It was a very conflicting feeling. He loved Rhett so much, but right now he hated himself for it.

Thinking about everything and nothing at the same time, minutes flew by. He was only brought back to the real world when his phone buzzed in his back pocket, a message from Christy saying they were already waiting for him at the car.

Once he made his way back to the parking lot, Christy got out of the car while the kids waited inside.

“Sorry, time got away from me”, Link tried to explain.

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I feel like this is my fault."

Link smiled at her endearingly. Of course she'd blame herself, he thought. His wife was a true saint. He put an arm over her shoulders in a sort of side hug, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her temple.

"It's not, I promise. It's _his_ fault for being a jackass."

She slid her hand down Link’s chest and over Rhett's jacket. She smiled; the other man’s gesture had clearly not gone unnoticed. "At least he's a jackass who cares about you."

"Yeah...” Link didn't need reminding. "C'mon, let's go home", he said, deciding to change the subject.

Besides, the sooner they got home, the sooner he'd be able to take off that stupid jacket. But it wouldn't kill him to keep it on during the ride back, right?

 

  
"Do you think that too?" he asked.

Link settled into bed while his wife finished up her nightly routine. Rhett's jacket was perched on the chair in the corner of their bedroom, and Link had been staring blankly at it for over ten minutes.

Christy glanced back at him from the bathroom, showing him he had her attention.

"Do you think he loves me more than I love him?"

She scoffed. "Oh please, of course I don't.”

She kept removing her makeup, while Link remained thoughtfully quiet. Once she was done putting everything away, she washed her face before looking back at his reflection in the mirror.

She could tell this was really bothering him. Link was so easy to read. Whenever something was upsetting him, her 6-foot-tall, almost forty year old husband would magically make himself look small. He would avoid eye contact as much as possible, always fidgeting with his hands like a child who's been told off by his mother. Which was, not by coincidence, exactly what he was doing at that very moment.

As reassuring as she wanted to be, however, a part of her told her she also owed him the complete truth. He did ask, after all.

“Although..."

He snapped his head back up to look at her. "Although?"

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"Of course I won't get mad!" Christy raised her eyebrows, completely unconvinced. He could only sigh. "Fine, fine. I promise, okay?"

"It's just that...I can't say I don't see where he's coming from."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess I mean… if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around to hear it, does it really make a sound?"

She waited a second as she watched Link tilt his head in confusion. It didn't take a genius to understand that he wasn't following.

"When you're talking to someone else, whenever he's not around, you can go on and on about how Rhett did this and that, and all the things you've done together. And I love that about you, it's so cute..."

"I sense a but coming."

"But...", she continued. "You don't usually show _him_ how much you love him. I don't know if you do it on purpose or --"

"Of course I don't!" Link rushed to say. From the look on Christy's face he could tell he hadn't sounded as smooth as he intended; it had come out overly defensive. Maybe even suspiciously so. "Why would I do it on purpose?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "You tell me."

He huffed out a dismissive laugh, but he didn't say anything else about it. And Christy didn't press on.

 

After a restless night, Link spent most of his Sunday with his kids as a way to distract himself from the thoughts that had kept him up all night. He talked to Lily about some of her favorite sci-fi shows, he let Lincoln crush him on his new Xbox game – or so he said –, and he chased Lando around the backyard until he'd finally had every last bit of energy squeezed out of him.

He ended up falling asleep on the couch while watching a movie with Christy after dinner, and she let him. She had been watching him attentively all day, well aware that he wasn't just having a ‘father-of-the-year’ kind of day; he was running from his problems.

After two failed attempts at trying to get him to go to bed, she resigned herself to bringing him a blanket and draping it over him. She placed a kiss on his forehead, causing him to stir a bit but not enough to wake up, and then turned off the lights on her way out.

Just like that, Link woke up a few hours later surrounded by darkness. It took him a second to process that he was not in his bed, but he still had no intention of getting up.

Despite not wanting to move, he decided to feel around behind him, looking for his phone since he knew it must have slipped out of his back pocket. When he found it, he brought it up to his face, immediately grunting at the brightness of the screen. Once his eyes adjusted, he could see the clock, marked 1:03 a.m.

He sighed deeply. He still had eight hours until he had to pick up Rhett, and now that he had let the thought of his friend enter his head, he knew it was going to be a long and sleepless eight hours.

Even so, he tossed and turned on the couch for another forty-five minutes or so, until he finally decided to get his laptop from his office. He walked slowly down the corridor and then back again, all while wearing his blanket as a cape. By the time he'd plopped back down on the couch and turned the computer on, he still had no idea what he wanted to do with it.

He would usually resort to cleaning up the house to clear his mind, but he couldn't do that in the middle of the night without waking everybody up, so he settled for organising his desktop instead. It didn't take him too long though, given that he'd done it at least three or four times in the past month, so he thought about opening up a blank page in Word and just writing.

He and Rhett had discussed their different ways of dealing with stress several times, and Rhett seemed to find that journaling really helped. Link wouldn't have said that he was particularly stressed out, but he did have a lot on his mind, so maybe splashing things out onto paper would help. He ended up dismissing the idea, though. Typing didn't have the same relaxing effect as actually writing by hand. But maybe he'd try that later, he thought.

At last, he decided to put on some headphones and listen to music; analyzing lyrics and the meaning behind songs always helped him ease his mind. Meanwhile, he browsed around on the internet and checked in on some stats from work. Rhett was probably right, he thought. He really didn't know how to relax.

It was only when he logged onto YouTube and Rhett's face showed up in one of their thumbnails, however, that he gave up on the idea of relaxing all together.

 _“Try reading the comments on our videos some time, you'll see I'm not delusional”_ , Rhett had said. So Link did just that. He let himself go down a spiral of comments and pictures that only seemed to rub in his face how much his best friend loved him. They all read something like ‘Aww Rhett loves him so much’ or ‘the way Rhett looks at Link’, with heart-eyed emojis everywhere. And Link hated it.

If the tree fell and there was no one around to hear it, did it make a sound? Who freaking cares? The point was that the tree fell. Just like Link fell for Rhett, even if no one noticed that he did.

As the sky began turning blue, Link closed his laptop and started up gathering up his things. He tried to keep noise to a minimum, so he brushed his teeth in the downstairs bathroom and picked up a clean shirt from the unironed pile of clothes so as not to bother Christy’s sleep. Once he was done, he grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. He needed to drive.

If Link hadn't been so focused on proving he loved Rhett more, he might have noticed that his feelings were not one sided. Because Rhett had a point. Everyone could see his love for Link. That was, in fact, the only difference between them: unlike Link’s, Rhett’s tree had fallen, and everyone was around to hear it.

 

***

After turning off two alarms, Rhett woke up on Monday morning at 8:15 to an empty bed. He had let himself oversleep by fifteen minutes, which explained the smell of toast already coming from downstairs.

The unusual silence, however, the complete lack of grunting and complaining from his two boys threw him off a bit, until it finally hit him. He cursed himself under his breath as he realized it was a school day. Jessie must have woken up early to send the kids off, and instead of waking him up like she always did, she just let him sleep.

He grunted as he opened his eyes, trying to shake away the feeling of being a horrible husband and father for not getting up to help Jessie with the boys. He stretched his back and his legs, like every morning, placing his feet on the floor just as Barbara pushed the door open with her nose. He chuckled at the sight of her; the one bright spot in his day he could always count on. She then jumped onto his lap, tilting up to lick kisses all over Rhett's face.

“Hi baby, hi!” he said in the special voice he used for her.

As he scratched her sides, he suddenly noticed the screen of his phone turning on out of the corner of his eye. He put Barbara down beside him on the bed, where she sat while she waited for him.

“Good girl”, he said, petting her head before reaching over to grab his phone from the nightstand.

A text from Link popped up on his lock screen:

_Left early for the studio, sorry. Told Stevie to pick you up._

If this had anything to do with their argument from Saturday, he could add the feeling of being a horrible friend to start his morning.

 

At Link’s command, Stevie was in Rhett’s driveway at two minutes past nine.

"Morning there."

"Hey", Rhett said as he settled into the passenger seat."Sorry Link made you pick me up. I mean, I could have driven myself."

"Nah, don't worry."

"Did he tell you why he left early?"

She shook her head. "Nope. But he texted me around seven, so he's been there a while."

Rhett hummed curiously in response.

This was very unlike Link. That man was practically a machine when it came to schedules, and he didn't like changing things up, so how angry did he have to be to pull something like this on Rhett?

They had argued about everything and anything, and each time, Link had picked him him up, even when it meant they sat in awkward silence all the way to the studio. Sometimes the weird atmosphere between them could last all day, but Rhett couldn't help but think that he'd take the awkward silence any day over the uncertainty he was feeling now.

"Is everything okay with you guys?"

"What?" he said, suddenly startled out of his thoughts. "Oh. Yeah, yeah."

"Not very convincing, Rhett", Stevie said with a knowing smile.

He laughed through his nose, knowing very well there was no point in lying to Stevie. He was transparent when it came to Link, and she'd pull it out of him eventually. She always did.

"We just... we had an argument on Saturday, it's no big deal."

"You think he's still mad?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Although, who am I kidding? Probably."

That was the last thing he said on their way to work. He'd apologize to Stevie later, but for the moment, he was beyond grateful she let him lose himself in thought.

By the time they got to the studio, Rhett had come up with at least fifteen different reasons Link might have needed to leave early. He had tried to think of ideas that would imply less drama than their stupid argument from Saturday, but he had ended up with worse. He thought of everything from ‘he needed to get his car fixed’ to ‘Christy kicked him out and he had to move his stuff to the studio’, which almost made him pray the cause would _just_ be their silly fight.

Before entering the office, Rhett took a peek inside. Link was sitting at his desk facing his computer screen, even though Rhett could tell his attention was somewhere else. His eyes were set on the light coming in from the window, but his mind wasn't. And the deep sigh he took only served as confirmation.

"Morning."

"Oh, hey!" Link said, practically jumping out of his chair. Needless to say, he failed horribly at sounding casual. "I...uhm..."

"Did something happen?” Rhett interrupted him. “Why were you here so early?"

Link smiled, half relieved, half endeared as he recognized the worried tone in Rhett's voice. "No, nothing happened. I just... I couldn't sleep."

"So..?"

"So I just went for a drive and ended up here." Link shrugged. "Didn't see the point in leaving if I had to come back anyway, you know."

Rhett nodded, processing the idea, before his eyes stopped on the empty bin next to his own desk. He looked back and forth between his bin and Link’s, realizing that all the scrunched up post-its Link had thrown in his had to be new.

“You’ve been working?”

Link turned to follow Rhett's eyes. “Oh, no. Not really. It was just a bunch of nonsense. Ideas for episodes and stuff.”

“Nonsense is what we do, brother. Are you sure you don't want me to take a look?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. They weren't any good. Want some tea?"

Rhett squinted suspiciously at the abrupt change of subject. "You don't drink tea."

"I know. But you do."

Rhett smiled at his bluntness, not quite losing the squinting eyes. "Okay. Thanks."

"It's the least I can do after standing you up today. Almond milk, one sugar. Right?"

"Yeah."

Link smiled. "Cool. I'll be right back."

Rhett stared at the door as he watched Link slip away down the hall. What was that all about?

Their arguments generally didn't end up with Link making him tea and giving him sweet looks, so he stood there in the middle of their office and tried to put the puzzle pieces together in his mind. Was Link apologizing? Or was he in denial? Was he making an effort to show Rhett he cared? Whatever his deal was, Rhett wasn't going to complain.

He shook his head, almost calling his mind back to Earth as he turned around. He walked over to place his backpack over his desk when he noticed his green jacket hanging off the back of his chair. It was carefully folded in half, so neatly placed in the most Link Neal way possible that he couldn't help the smile tugging on his lips.

It was an apology. It had to be.

 

Their day went on as usual. They had so much to do that neither of them had enough time to stop and think about the weird feeling in the air between them. That didn't mean they didn't notice it, though.

Once everyone was gone for the evening, Rhett thought they'd get a little time alone. Maybe talk things out. He'd been conjuring up an apology in his mind all day, trying to find the right words, but when the time came to say them, Link was nowhere to be found.

Rhett looked everywhere. He tried the loft, the set, the bathroom, the kitchen, and even outside, where he could still see Link’s car. Once he'd given up, he went back to their office, plopping down on his desk chair to send Link a text.

 _'Where are you??’_ he typed. But just as he was about to press send, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the colorful papers still inside Link’s trash can. He put down his phone on the desk and turned around, choosing to focus his attention on the yellow and green post-its instead.

He stared at them for a solid minute, tapping his fingers thoughtfully on the armrest of his chair. Link had said they were just ideas for episodes, but there was something about his intent to deviate the conversation away from them when Rhett asked that left him feeling a little uneasy. And intrigued, because he knew that if Link had been telling the truth, there would have been absolutely no reason for him not to share his ideas with Rhett. No matter how horrible the ideas might have been.

His mind was made up. He stood, picking up the bin from the floor and placing it on Link's desk. Had he been there, the other man would have been complaining about germs, but Rhett didn't care. Not right now.

He dipped his hand inside to grab one of the little paper balls, a yellow one, taking it out to unfold it carefully.

 _I let him drive_ , it read in Link's clear handwriting.

Rhett frowned in confusion. This only created more questions, so he reached in for another one, except this time, it was a green post-it.

_He lets me sleep on the passenger seat._

That one made Rhett chuckle. Even though he didn't know whether to feel endeared by it or just sad, at least Rhett thought he could see what Link had done with these. Still, the curiosity to see what the rest of them said was eating him alive, so he kept taking them out one by one.

_I let him rant about his new layers._

_He always wants me to be involved._

_I care more about his back than he does._

_He always makes sure I won't get hurt._

_I reach out for him more._

_He says more sappy things._

_I gave up film school for him._

_He gave up his basketball scholarship for me._

_I quit my job to follow our dreams together._

_He suggested the blood oath._

Each yellow post-it held something Link had done for Rhett, while the green ones held the opposite, and as he took them out, Rhett paired them up with their counterparts. By the time he'd reached that far, Rhett was starting to doubt himself. He had never thought about all this, not really. Could it be that he'd been wrong? Could Link love him back just as much as Rhett did?

As if to answer that question, he took out the last remaining ball of paper from the bin, a yellow one without a green one to match. He opened it slowly, Rhett’s breath hissing as soon as he saw the words Link’d written down. Suddenly, his world made so much sense.

Underneath a line trying to cross it all out, probably in embarrassment, one could see the words: _I let him go_.

Rhett shook his head in disbelief. Link was such an idiot, but apparently so was he.

 

"Hey."

"Hey", Link smiled back. "You found me."

"Sorry it took me so long", Rhett said, walking up next to Link. "I didn't know we were playing hide and seek."

Link chuckled. "Well, you still won. How did you know I was here?"

“You said you like a breeze when you feel like you can't take it anymore.”

“Ah. That I do.”

“Also, I looked everywhere else.” Rhett admitted, earning a white smile from Link. “The roof was the only option left.”

“Sorry for disappearing.”

Rhett shrugged. “That's alright. I get it.”

They sighed in unison as they settled into a comfortable silence. They stood side by side, leaning over the small wall of the roof, staring off at the sun setting over the LA skyline.

Even though they could have stood like that forever without complaining, they both knew this was it. Now that they were alone, with a calming breeze hitting their faces, one of them would have to speak first. So Rhett did.

"So..." He cleared his throat. "I found these..."

He pulled out a green folded up piece of paper from his jacket pocket, and Link’s eyes shot wide open.

"Shit. You– ” He reached to take it from Rhett's grasp before his friend could do anything to prevent it.

Despite the piece of paper being folded in half with no other wrinkles of any kind, Link didn't seem to notice. Instead, his mind was too busy panicking, knowing exactly what Rhett was talking about, what he'd seen.

This could not be happening. Over thirty years of hiding this only to see his world crumble away because of a stupid post-it note.

He turned around to avoid Rhett’s gaze in a mix of fear and embarrassment, walking away as he crumpled the piece of paper in his hand. “You were not supposed to read those."

"Yeah, I figured.” Rhett laughed. “But why don't you read that one?"

He scoffed angrily, feeling he was being made fun of. "I know what it says, Rhett."

"Do you really?"

His racing mind suddenly told him to stop and listen. There was a certain something in Rhett's voice behind him, a complete lack of malice, that encouraged him to turn around. And he was instantly glad he did.

Rhett was certainly a sight for sore eyes if Link had ever seen one. The tall man was just standing there, hands in the front pockets of his green jacket and the orange light from the sunset reflecting on his face. It was the same familiar silhouette he was used to, yet different somehow.

“Open it”, he said, nodding toward the paper in Link's hand.

He was smiling warmly, a twinkle in his seemingly golden eyes told Link that Rhett was up to something. He could see a little mischief in them, as well as a little distinct something that Link was sure he'd never seen in Rhett's eyes before. So with curiosity getting the best of him, Link did as he was told.

He carefully opened up the crumpled up piece of paper in his hand, smoothing it as much as possible before he caught a glimpse of Rhett's handwriting. Five words were scribbled down on the green paper, and it took Link a few seconds to process the meaning behind them.

He looked up, giving Rhett an incredulous look, but he couldn't help the grin that crept up on his face.

Rhett's little message read:  _I let you go first_.

Rhett chuckled. "I think I owe you an apology", he said, wearing a wicked smile as he started walking slowly toward Link. “Turns out you love me more than I thought.”

Link could only smile, shaking his head at Rhett's little tease.

They had some serious talking to do.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm almost embarrassed of this, but I hope you enjoyed it haha :)  
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!


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